Problems socializing at the office, please help me

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raul693
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18 Feb 2011, 8:17 pm

Ok so here's the deal, I have had three jobs so far in my life and I will briefly describe how I fared socially in them so you can get an idea of what my problem is

1: Sept. 08- Nov. 08 Part-time Legal Intern at really big corporate law firm with medium-big business environment (De Sola, Pate & Brown): As a legal intern ones job is mostly very mechanical, I am 100% sure my work there was flawless, but also 100% sure my social skills were very deficient at best, I basically talked to people only when needed, my supervisor even approached me at one point about me being way too serious at the job but I didn't know how to change it (at the time I didn't know I had AS). In the end I was let go after 3 months because I could only work part-time, they did hire me 2 months after my interview because they where concerned about my class schedule, but I'm pretty sure my lack of social skills influenced that decision. When I left I didn't know the name of a lot of people there, I'm sure no one particularly liked me and that my supervisor disliked me

2: Dec. 09 to Jun. 10, Badell & Grau, 8to5 Legal Intern at big corporate law firm with small family type business environment (They're not very nice people though and function like a big firm in almost every way): Here I had the advantage of having 4 people from law school working there, I learned the names of everyone (around 30something people), I was liked by most people, including my first supervisor (second one wasn't very social but we got along well), only 2 people didn't like me, and even though by the time I had improved a lot socially I still behaved like my real me and it worked very well. My work was flawless, I left because there weren't any opportunities to grow as a lawyer in my preferred field.

3: Since February 7th 2011, Law Clerk at National Administrative Courts: I have 5 good friends working on my floor (2 of them are among my best friends), these are all aware of my social shortcomings, in my actual office there are three of them, 2 started pretty much a the same time as me. Out of 20 people, besides the three that I already know, I am liked by and like 4 people (one graduated with me but we didn't talk at school, another lawyer, the secretary and messenger) however, the remaining don't like me or hate me, I can understand this as I truly don't have the slightest interest in socializing with them (I barely say hello) because I think they're idiots and legally stupid, however 3 of them are technically superior to me (they make more money), the rest are just like me, but again, I believe they're idiots. The Judge and Senior Lawyer have neutral feelings towards me, and in the end of the day they're are the ones who evaluate me, but should I change? I can act charmingly because I have worked at it, but I really don't want to with these people. My work can't be evaluated because Monday I begin my 3rd week and start doing some real work. Oh and my two friends are neutral, nobody hates them liked they hate me.

Please, any tips are welcomed.

Thank you, and sorry for the long post.



jamesongerbil
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18 Feb 2011, 10:18 pm

You could just be nice anyway. Social niceties go a long way. NTs are often nice to each other to each other's faces, even if they don't like each other, because it is... well I don't know why, it's just how they do things I guess. Well, social niceties show something, anyway. Especially when they are your superiors.



Densaugeo
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19 Feb 2011, 12:08 am

Politeness also helps avoid problems. It can be a very practical thing.



Chronos
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19 Feb 2011, 12:21 am

raul693 wrote:
Out of 20 people, besides the three that I already know, I am liked by and like 4 people (one graduated with me but we didn't talk at school, another lawyer, the secretary and messenger) however, the remaining don't like me or hate me, I can understand this as I truly don't have the slightest interest in socializing with them (I barely say hello) because I think they're idiots and legally stupid


Honestly you just sound arrogant and petty. I suppose you picked the right field though.



Akari-Seishin
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23 Feb 2011, 2:18 pm

um...I am not sure if this will help you at all but my father taught me this when I was a kid, before my mom found out I had AS. If you can not talk to someone directly in the eye, "cheat". When I need to talk to people I tend to look at their forehead. I taught myself this when I noticed I would also tend to stutter a lot around people I am not comfortable around, I just attempted to calm down while talking and it works sometimes.

I hope this will help you, if anything a little.


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raul693
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23 Feb 2011, 7:01 pm

Quote:
Honestly you just sound arrogant and petty. I suppose you picked the right field though.
That may be true.

Regarding politeness, you are definitely right Densaugeo, but i tend to forget about it, also I new social conventions keep on coming my way so it's very now and then I find myself unprepared for them.

Quote:
When I need to talk to people I tend to look at their forehead
From what I understand that I very common advice for aspies, however it really doesn't work for me, it stresses me more than looking at people in the eye because I get nervous about my sight going too far up. Eye contact isn't really my biggest problem, with a lot of effort I can manage to pull it off when needed.[quote]